Recognizing that today’s important scientific questions are too big for one organization alone, the Smithsonian is dedicated to engaging in strategic partnerships at a global level. Our collections, expertise, and research sites around the world enable us to establish the partnerships that will broaden and strengthen an integrated biodiversity genomics community that is open and beneficial to all.

The Smithsonian has close collaborative relationships with researchers at genomic programs around the world. The Smithsonian also has a significant emerging partnership with the high-performance computing program at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, where data will be stored and high throughput analyses conducted. Our other partners span federal agencies, academic institutions, and public and private industry, and include:

Next-generation sequencing facilities, such as BGI Americas, the Huck Institute at Penn State, and genome facilities at the University of Georgia, Duke University, Oregon State University, and the University of California at Davis

Data centers, such as the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS), and National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI)

Scientific-community genomic initiatives, such as Genome10K, I5K, GIGA, and Genomic Observatories

Partnerships with other research institutions, such as the University of Maryland Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, the United States Federal Interagency Group on Plant Genomics, and the National Institutes of Health

Moreover, the Smithsonian is developing investigative collaborations with a limited number of biotech companies to ensure our access to the latest developments in advanced genomic methodologies and instrumentation.